Electronic devices currently are made using iterative process steps, such as sequential deposition and etching of materials. For devices comprising inorganic materials, metal-organic precursors have been used extensively for solution-based deposition of inorganic oxides. The presence of the organic moiety necessitates a high-temperature burnout step to remove the organic material. This step can cause significant volume change, crystallization and the phenomenon of “mud cracking.” The associated defects inhibit the performance of these materials as coatings and within devices.
Methods for solution processing materials for electronic device applications have been patented. For example, Ostergard, U.S. Pat. No. 6,946,677, entitled “Pre-Patterned Substrate for Organic Thin Film Transistor Structures and Circuits and Related Method for Making Same,” describes forming a desired circuit configuration in the surface of a substrate, thereby pre-patterning the area to receive material useful for forming an organic thin film transistor (OTFT) structure and interconnecting conductive paths. According to the '677 patent, OTFT material is deposited in the pre-patterned area using printing techniques such as inkjet printing.
Weng et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,927,108, describes solution processing thin-film materials to form transistors. The '108 patent describes forming “conductive solution-processed thin film material contacts, semiconductor solution-processed thin film material active regions, and dielectric solution-processed thin film material isolations in a sequence and organization to form a solution-processed thin film structure capable of transistor operation.”
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0242330 A1, which is incorporated herein by reference, concerns hafnium and zirconium compounds useful for electronic applications. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0242330 A1 names Dr. Douglas Keszler as an inventor, who also is an inventor of embodiments disclosed herein.